SRINAGAR: Three sheds were gutted in a massive blaze that broke out on Monday near Golden Lily, a houseboat located in Dal Lake at Ghat No 02, officials said.

An official told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that a fire broke out near the Golden Lily houseboat located at Ghat No 2.

In the incident, three sheds got damaged, and the fire has been successfully doused off, he said, adding “our team is accessing the damage and till now, there has been damage to the three tin sheds and partial damage to the houseboat, due to the flames of fire.

Meanwhile, locals from the area hailed the efforts of F&ES and thanked them for prominent response, which led to avoidance of major tragedy. (KNO)

SRINAGAR: A woman hailing from Goshbugh Pattan, who was injured after she was hit by a truck near Haj house Bemina succumbed to her injuries at SKIMS on Monday.

They told news agency Kashmir Scroll said that a woman identified as Hafeeza, wife of Riyaz Ahmad, a resident of Goshbugh Pattan, was critically injured after she was hit by truck near Haj house on Saturday. They said she was shifted to JVC hospital for treatment, where from she was shifted to SKIMS soura for specialised treatment.

However, she succumbed to her injuries this morning.

Meanwhile, an official told Kashmir Scroll that the driver of the truck has been arrested, vehicle has been siezed and a case under relevant sections of law has been registered. (KS)

SRINAGAR: The Government on Friday appointed Braj Raj Sharma as State Election Commissioner for Jammu and Kashmir.

“In exercise of the powers conferred by proviso to sub-section (3) of section 36 of the Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act, 1989, the Lieutenant Governor of Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir is pleased to appoint Mr. Braj Raj Sharma, IAS (Retd.) as State Election Commissioner for the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir under the said Act,” reads a government order, a copy of which lies with GNS. “He shall hold the position of State Election Commissioner till he attains the age of sixty five years”.

The appointment of State Election Commissioner, it said, shall take effect from the date he assumes the charge.

Born on 27-04-1960, the former Chief Secretary and the chairman of J&K Public Service Commission, shall have tenure till 2025.  

“The terms and conditions of his appointment shall be notified by the Government subsequently.” (GNS)

SRINAGAR: Weather department here has forecast mainly dry weather with possibility of intermittent light to moderate rain and thundershower at scattered places of Jammu and Kashmir till July 18 even as minimum temperature recorded increase in J&K on Friday.

A meteorological department official here told GNS that “intermittent light to moderate rain and thundershower were expected at scattered places between July 19 and 25. However, he said, there is no forecast of any major rainfall till July 25. 

Regarding the minimum temperature, the official said that Srinagar recorded a low of 20.7°C against 17.6°C on the previous night and it was 2.6°C below normal for the summer capital.

Qazigund, he said, recorded a low of 17.2°C against 17.0°C on the previous night and it was 0.7°C above normal for the gateway town of the Kashmir Valley.

Pahalgam, he said, recorded a low of 12.7°C against 10.3°C on the previous night and it was above normal by 0.7°C for the famous tourist resort in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.

In Kupwara town, he said, the mercury settled at 16.6°C against 15.5°C on the previous night and it was normal for the north Kashmir area.

Kokernag recorded a low of 17.5°C against 16.5°C on the previous night and it was 1.6°C above normal for the place, the officials said.

Gulmarg recorded a low of 14.0°C against 11.6°C on previous night and it was 2.2°C above normal for the world famous skiing resort in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, he said.

Jammu recorded a low of 27.1°C against 25.9°C on the previous night and it was 2.3°C above normal for J&K’s winter capital, he said.
Banihal recorded a low of 18.6°C, Batote 19.6°C, Katra 23.4°C and Bhaderwah 16.6°C, the official said. (GNS)

SRINAGAR: Economic Offences Wing of Crime Branch Kashmir has produced chargesheet against 19 accused persons in the court of Passenger Tax Srinagar.

According a statement, issued to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), the accused persons were involved in the commission of offences punishable under sections 420, 468, 120-B & 201 RPC. 

The statement reads that brief facts of the case are that Crime Branch Kashmir had received a complaint alleging that certain individuals had been appointed in J&K Police [District Srinagar] on the basis of fake and forged appointment orders. 

It reads that accordingly, the instant case was registered in P/S Crime Branch Kashmir (now, Economic Offences Wing, Srinagar) in 2015 and investigation was started.

“During investigation it has been established that the appointment orders had been issued in clear violation of rules & established norms and after manipulation of records etc. The aforesaid acts on part of the accused individuals has established cheating, fraud and forgery under 420, 468, 120-B & 201 RPC.”

It added that accordingly, investigation of the case was closed as "proved" against 19 accused persons and chargesheet has been produced before the Court for judicial determination. (KNO)

SRINAGAR: Five shops were damaged in a fire incident in Mahore area of Reasi district on Friday, official and local sources said.

They told GNS that fire broke out in the main market of Mahore at around 7:30 a.m. and before it was brought under control by police, locals and Army’s 58 RR, the blaze damaged five shops, three of them substantially.

Goods worth lakhs of rupees are said to have been damaged in the fire but there was no official estimate available when this report was filed.

The reason for the fire is believed to be a short circuit but a police official told GNS that investigations have been started to confirm it.

Meanwhile, locals staged a protest against non- availability of fire station in the whole subdivision Mahore and urged authorities to set up at least one to prevent loss of property and life due to fire incidents in future. (GNS)

SRINAGAR: Former footballer player from the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, Ishfaq Ahmed has been appointed as coach of the India Under-16 men football team.

A virtual meeting of the technical committee members of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) was held on Thursday wherein the appointment of coaching staff for India's senior women's and men's under-16 team was discussed threadbare.

As per reports reaching here, the meeting was chaired by Chairman IM Vijayan and was attended by members Pinky Bompal Magar, Klamax Lawrence, former Jammu and Kashmir international footballers Arun Malhotra, Harjendra Singh and Eugeneson Lyngdoh.

Technical Committee Director Shabbir Pasha said that after a long discussion in the virtual meeting, Anthony Andrew was appointed as the head coach of the senior women's team.
Malhotra, as per reports suggested the name of former footballer Ishfaq Ahmed as the coach and the same was unanimously agreed upon by the members, said an official.
They said that Rajan Maini and Firoz Sharif were appointed as assistant coach and goalkeeper.

The senior women's team will play in the second round of the AFC Olympic Qualification from October 26 to November 1.
Apart from this, the Indian Under-16 football team will play SAIF Under-16 matches in Bhutan starting from September 1. (UNI)

SRINAGAR: Three Non-locals Labourers were injured after suspected militants fired upon them in Gagran area of South Kashmir’s Shopian district on Thursday evening.

A top police officer told GNS that militants this evening fired upon three non-locals in Gagran area.

All three were immediately shifted to a nearby hospital for treatment. However, the status of their condition was not available.

As per intial reports they have been identified as Anmol, Hirlal and Pinto. More details emerging.(GNS)

SRINAGAR: :A lady who was rescued by locals after she allegedly jumped into river jhelum at New Zainakadal bridge succumbed on Thursday afternoon.

Sources told news agency Kashmir Scroll said that an old aged lady name (withheld) resident of Kailashpora was rescued by locals after she allegedly tried to end her life by jumping into river Jhelum on Ist July.

They said after the incident she was taken to SMHS hospital for treatment, where she succumbed this afternoon.

 Meanwhile, police are investigating the matter and further details are awaited.(KS)

SRINAGAR: Chief Justice, High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh Justice N Kotishwar Singh on Thursday visited the Central Jail Srinagar to assess the quality of legal aid services being provided to prisoners.

Justice Singh who is also Patron-in-chief, J&K Legal Services Authority, was accompanied by his Principal Secretary, M K Sharma and Member Secretary J & K Legal Services Authority, Amit Gupta.

Chief Justice had rounded all the barracks and interacted extensively with the inmates, assessed the condition of prisoners and patiently listened to their grievances and concerns.

The Chief Justice assured the inmates that their genuine grievances shall be redressed and also issued on spot instructions to the concerned to ensure that the grievances projected by the jail inmates are addressed at the earliest.

During the visit, the Chief Justice engaged in constructive discussions with prison officials, legal aid volunteers, and inmates of Central Jail Srinagar. During interaction all the jail inmates admitted that they are being represented in the respective courts either by the counsel engaged by them or by counsel provided by the respective District Legal Services Authorities, wherever their cases are pending.

To gauge the effectiveness of the VC facility available in the Central Jail, the Chief Justice directed the jail authorities to connect the District Court Srinagar and interacted with the System Assistant and expressed satisfaction about the quality of the Video Conference Facility.

The Chief Justice also emphasized the significance of safeguarding the fundamental rights of prisoners, ensuring their access to justice, and offering them adequate legal support.

The Chief Justice also inspected the Legal Aid Clinic within the Central Jail Srinagar and expressed his satisfaction with the functioning of it. The Chief Justice also inspected the Medical Facility unit, Recreational Facility, Tailoring unit, Gymnasium, Carpentry Unit, Vet Canteen, Mulaqaat Centre, Calling Booth and other facilities available at the Central Jail. (UNI)

SRINAGAR:  Nearly forty percent posts of teaching staff are lying vacant in Central University of Jammu (CUJ), revealed the Central Public Information Officers of the University in a reply to the RTI application filed online.

The application was filed by the RTI activist Raman Sharma under Right to Information Act.

In response to the query related to status of teaching staff in the university, the Public Information Officer(PIO) in his reply has informed that sanctioned strength of teaching positions in the university is 178 and present strength of the teaching staff is 107.
The RTI reply also confirms that 71 posts of teaching staff are lying vacant in the university as on date.

While giving detail about the detail of non-teaching staff in the University, the reply to states that sanctioned strength of non-teaching positions in the university is 119, out of which 32 posts are lying vacant.

The university has skipped the query related to detail of temporary non-teaching staff there and simply stated “no such information available”.

With regard to query about the enrolled strength of the students, the reply also informed that total 2354 students are enrolled as on date in the university which includes 308-SC, 115- ST, 458-OBC, 01-PWD and 120-EWS students. The PIO has also preferred not to reply directly to the query related to total intake capacity of the Central University of Jammu for Students in different courses and departments and instead mentioned university website and prospectus 2023-24.

The RTI Activist however, also informed that similar application has also been submitted with Central University of Kashmir and their reply is awaited. (UNI)

SRINAGAR: Leaders of mainstream political parties in the Valley have accused the government for imposing restrictions on Martyr’s Day to prevent leaders from going to Mazar-e-Shohda where a function has been held every year since 1948 in memory of those who revolted against the Dogra rule on July 13, 1931.

National Conference, according to news agency Kashmir Dot Com tweeted, “Despite the restrictions placed on JKNC Vice President Omar Abdullah, which denied him security vehicles and ITBP cover, he chose to walk from his home to the Nawai Subh office. His purpose was to address the party workers who had gathered there to pay their heartfelt tributes to the 1931 Martyrs.”

Omar Abdulla, while tagging the twitter handle of Jammu and Kashmir police said “don’t think that refusing to give me my escort vehicles & ITBP cover will stop me. I’ll walk to where I have to get to & that’s exactly what I’m doing now.”

“Now that I’ve got to the office & will go ahead with my programme you will send everything. The fact is @JmuKmrPolice has stopped a lot of my senior colleagues from coming to the @JKNC_ office today by adopting the same tactics of stopping them in their homes. Notable amongst those stopped are Abdul Rahim Rather Sb, Ali Mohammad Sagar Sb, Ali Mohd Dar Sb and others, he said in another tweet.

Peoples Democratic Party president and former Chief Minister of erstwhile state, Mehbooba Mufti was also barred by authorities to pay homage to 1931 Martyrs.

PDP said “President Mehbooba Mufti has been put under house arrest & curbs imposed on the movement of senior leaders. Sad the sacrifices of those who laid down their lives for democracy are being dishonoured. Vehemently condemn the action of admin preventing us from commemorating the martyr's.”

Peoples Conference while taking on twitter said “Disturbed by the authorities' decision to restrict the JKPC Provincial President Kashmir Khurshid Alam movement from paying homage to the martyrs of Kashmir at Mazhar-e-Shohada in Khanyar today.”

Alam stated that it is unfortunate that he along with other leaders of the party were unjustly detained and denied the opportunity to lead a peaceful gathering of party leaders and workers to offer prayers and pay tributes to the martyrs at Manzar-e-Shohda.

“This restriction on our peaceful assembly is deeply concerning and infringes upon our right to commemorate the martyrs. Despite this setback, our determination remains unwavering. We shall continue to honor and remember the martyrs in our hearts and work towards achieving their vision of a just and prosperous Jammu and Kashmir”, he concluded.

For the fourth consecutive year, no function was held to commemorate the Martyrs' Day in Kashmir to pay homage to 22 Kashmiri people who were killed by the army of a Dogra ruler on this day in 1931, officials said on Wednesday.

July 13 was a public holiday in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and a grand official function was held every year on this day where the chief minister or the governor would be the chief guest.

However, the administration dropped the day from the list of gazetted holidays in 2020, after the abrogation of Article 370 and splitting of the erstwhile state into two union territories by the Centre on August 5, 2019.

No function was held at the Martyrs' graveyard in the city while no holiday was observed for the third time on Thursday. Apart from the official function at the Martyrs' graveyard, mainstream political leaders also used to visit it to pay homage to the 22 Kashmiris who fell to the bullets of the Dogra army while protesting the autocratic rule of Maharaja Hari Singh.

However, the officials said, this year no mainstream political leader visited the graveyard. They added that there were no restrictions on the movement of people. (KDC)